Two for the Height of One!
by Valerie Blakewell
Summary: Conan has had many allies along the way, but what happens when a new ally more like him than even she knows is pulled into it? An american no less! Will they be able to survive through the trials? Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama owns Case Closed. BEING REWRITEN
1. First Case

_**Kinsey Adler**_

I made my way through the halls of the elementary school to the door of the second grade classroom. It stood at least twice as tall as me. My breath came out in a sigh. _Am I really doing this!?_

In order to open the door I had to stand on my tiptoes. As soon as it was open I could hear the screams and chatter of the little kids that went to school here. I couldn't tell if the voice I was looking for was there or not. It was a voice I had heard only once, and it had changed drastically. Maybe he would recognize me, after I told him who I was. All I could do was wish. For the tenth time I checked the papers in my hand, then walked into the classroom. The noise was louder in here, and I winced when my head pounded. I would sneak a children's Tylenol later, since I hadn't had any today. My feet took themselves to the teacher, almost without my leading since I was slightly zoned out. I scanned the room for the one face I was interested in and finally zeroed in on it.

There he was! The boy I had searched for since I had been turned into this. His tracks were slightly obvious when you knew what to look for. Before I approached him I had to deal with the teacher. I reached up to pull on her skirt, so as to get her attention. She turned toward me and smiled down. I grinned back at her.

"Hello, my name is Kinsey Adler. I'm new, from the U.S.A." I said quietly. Her smile grew.

"Oh, hello. I was told I would have a new student. Where are your parents?" She asked. Why did she have to ask about them?

"They just dropped me off. I knew I could handle it on my own!" I answered brightly, a bit louder than before. I had to create my image as a bright innocent little girl.

"That is very good! I'm glad you found it alright. Is it alright if I introduce you to the class?" the teacher inquired. I almost snorted, but held it back.

"Sure! I can't wait to make friends!" I squealed. She nodded and turned to the class.

"Attention! We have a new student today!" she announced, waiting for the class to turn to her, "This is Kinsey Adler from the U.S.A. She is a long way from home, so please make her feel welcome." The boy's head snapped up at me in surprise as soon as my name was called, and I smirked at him. The girl next to him noticed his stare, and glanced at me as well. They whispered for a second then he calmed down slightly. This made me suspicious. Why did he depend on her so much?

"Hi, Kinsey!" the class called. I smiled at them sweetly.

"Hello," I replied shyly.

"Now, Kinsey, why don't you go sit by Ayumi? She's the girl in the pink over there. Are you sure you are advanced enough in Japanese to do the work?" the teacher asked, handing me the papers for the day.

"Yes, my mother is Japanese, and I've spoken and written it as long as English." I said confidently, "It's not any harder than English."

"Good! We will start the lesson in five minutes. Go make some friends until then!" she encouraged. I walked to the back of the room, only tripping once. Back home I had been considered the most clumsy person around, even though I did gymnastics and ballet for 10 years. Ayumi smiled at me as I sat down.

"Hi! My name's Ayumi! It's nice to meet you! We're going to be such good friends." Ayumi babbled. Two boys, the boy I had been watching and the girl with him all crowded around. "This is Genta, Mitsuhiko, Conan and Ai!"

"We're the detective boys. There's no mystery we can't solve!" Genta added. I giggled.

"Nice to meet you! You already know my name's Kinsey." I said. Conan's eyes bored into me again. I smirked. "A detective group sounds cool. Have you solved any mysteries?"

"Yes, a fair few." Mitsuhiko replied. Both he and George were also staring at me, but for a different reason. I sighed. Boys loved shiny new things, and now I was it.

"That's amazing! You must be really good at figuring things out." I commented, attempting to see what they thought of Conan.

"Not really, Conan figures most of them out." Ayumi sighed. I had to hold in my laughter. Of course he did!

"Hey, you know, you look a lot like Conan." Mitsuhiko said, glancing between me and Conan. I stared at Conan, standing across from me. We really did look alike. Our hair was the same shade of black, and our eyes were the same shade of blue. We both had glasses, fake of course. My hair was so long I sat on it, though, and I was a few inches shorter than him. I was almost unnaturally skinny, while he was normal for a child of our 'age.'

"You do! Cool, you could be related!" Genta said excitedly. I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. Conan looked to be doing the same, and Ai looked bored. I had already come to the conclusion that she was more than she seemed as well.

"I doubt it. The probability of that is-" Mitsuhiko was interrupted by the start of the lesson.

After the most boring day of school in the history of the world the 'Detective Boys' took me to their base. Basically the area in front of Genta's locker. Of course, they didn't have any cases there, but it was cute how excited they got. Out of all of them Conan was the only one who really knew the excitement of solving a case.

"So, do you want to join the Detective Boys?" Genta asked. I grinned.

"Sure! That sounds so fun!" I squealed, and clapped my hands together. Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi cheered, while Ai just watched and Conan smiled quizzically, staring at me. I guessed that he was trying to figure out who exactly I was. We had met a few years ago, but I doubted he remembered. When I was younger I was a lot different anyway. If he figured it out, I would be amazed.

"Ai, can you get the professor to get her a watch and a badge, like ours?" Ayumi asked. I was confused.

"A badge and a watch?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah! We have these cool flashlight watches, and our club badges! They are communicators." Ayumi explained, showing both to me. Ah! So that was how Conan kept them out of danger. The badges must be trackers as well.

"Amazing! He invented them for you?" I asked, playing ignorant. The three nodded enthusiastically. Before anyone could actually say anything, a boy ran up to us. He was panting, and had come straight from class.

"What's wrong?" Conan asked.

"Is it a case?" Mitsuhiko said. The boy nodded.

"My name is Zach! My sister's missing! The cops think she ran away, but I think she was kidnapped! She went on a walk yesterday, but didn't come back. She said she was going to meet a friend to talk, but I don't know who it was." he panted.

"When was this?" I asked, switching into detective mode. I could see Conan do the same, and we both moved to stand right in front of the boy.

"Y-yesterday at about 11:00pm. My parents called all of her friends but none of them had seen her. The cops said since she had fought with my parents she had probably run away. They can't even do anything until tonight anyway. Please help me!" Zach begged. We nodded.

"Take us to your house." I was surprised when Conan made the statement, simultaneously. We exchanged a glance - his perplexed, mine knowing. We were more alike than even I had realized. Once we had turned our attention back to the boy, he led us to his house, running.

Before I went in I searched the ground for any clues. On the grass next to the path an earring was half hidden in the grass. I picked it up, slipping it in my pocket. After I finished I ran into the house and to the only open door. Everyone was gathered in the middle of the room. Ayumi motioned me over.

"Ok, this is my sister's room. She took her wallet with her last night. It had about $30 in it, but nothing else and she doesn't have a cell phone. My parents were going to get her one for her next birthday." The boy said. He picked up a picture of their family off of the bedside table and pointed to a girl who looked about 11. "This is my sister."

"Ok, we'll search this room, and if we don't find anything we'll go on the path she took to walk." I told him. Conan eyed me questioningly.

"But we don't know what way she went." he pointed out. I smiled.

"You didn't pay attention to the footprints. She turned left at the gate. From there we can search the paths she could've taken." I answered smugly. He sighed.

"Well, for now, let's look for clues." He gave in. I giggled. Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko watched our conversation admiringly. Apparently they weren't used to Conan giving in to anyone. That would be changing now. We spread out, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko to the bed and bedside table, Conan to the dresser, Ai to the closet and myself to the computer desk. I jumped onto the chair in order to see the top. There was a laptop there with books and papers spread around it.

First I looked through the papers, looking for something she could have scrawled down or read. There was nothing except old school papers and unfinished homework. The books had nothing in them either, no bookmarks even. She just dog-eared the place she left off. It annoyed me. I hated when people disfigured their books. When I had established that there was nothing to obtain from inspecting them, I turned to the computer. It was turned on already, and I saw an I.M. icon. Clicking on it, I searched the recent chats. There was a lot of correspondence with a person called URbuddy131. It appeared to be an older man that she had met online. It didn't bode well. She had told him where she lived, and dictated her days to him, ranting about small things. Of course, there was a chat about yesterday's fight.

She had told him about fighting, and complained that her parents weren't fair. She said she would take her usual walk, and go get some ice cream to cool off. He encouraged her, and asked the store she was going to. It was the one three blocks away. She told him she'd meet him there. Hopefully, someone at the store would know who he was. I attempted to jump off the chair, but my foot got caught. Right before I hit the ground Conan pulled me up. I sighed, while he put me on my feet.

"Thank you, I'm so freakin' clumsy!" I huffed. He laughed.

"Yeah, I can tell." he teased. I glared at him.

"Oh, thank you, great detective." that reminded me, "Oh, yeah! I found something. She had an I.M. buddy who is suspicious. She was going to meet him at the ice cream store three blocks from here. I bet he took her. Maybe a store worker will know who he is?"

"That's the best lead we have. Let's go there. I'll ask how you found it out when we talk later." he hinted, giving me a look, and went to tell the others. I smiled, and then followed him. Once everyone was in on it, we left to investigate. Conan and I in front and Ai in the back.

"So, Kinsey. How did you get your name?" he asked, casually.

"Well, there are these people called my parents and they came up with it." I said sarcastically, wincing at the word 'parent.' He noticed, but didn't comment.

"Really? I had the notion that you had made it up." he suggested. I laughed.

"Did you? Well, maybe I did and maybe I didn't. You'll just have to find out." I retorted, and then whispered, "When we are at a place where we can't be overheard." He nodded, looking confused, and fell back to talk to Ai. I smirked, and sped up. They followed.

When we arrived at the store I immediately went up to the counter and got the woman's attention. She smiled down at me.

"Yes, sweetie what do you want?" she asked. I took out the picture of the girl that we had taken and showed it to her. The others crowded around again.

"I was just wondering if you were here last night and if you saw this girl with a man." I replied. She shook her head.

"Sorry, hun. I wasn't here last night. Mike was, though. You want to ask him?" she answered.

"Yes! Definitely!" Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko said. I giggled.

"Ok, wait here." She went into the back room and soon came back with a seventeen-year-old boy. He looked curiously at us.

"Have you seen this girl? Was she with a man?" Conan asked. Mike inspected the picture.

"Yeah, I've seen her. She comes in 'bout three times a week. There's a man who meets her here. What of it?" he said.

"Do you know the man? Where he lives?" I asked.

"Yeah, he lives right across the street. See the house? It's the gray one." he pointed out the window to the plainly visible house. The kids cheered.

"Thanks! That was a big help! Could you call the police? We think the man kidnapped the girl!" Ayumi asked. The boy snorted.

"What, are you playin' a make believe game or somethin'?" he asked, and turned away. I huffed. Being a kid was so stupid. We went out the doors, and gathered on the corner.

"Ok, Ai, you call the police. Tell them it's us and that we need help. Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko you guard the entrances while Kinsey and I go in." Conan directed. Genta glared at him.

"Why do I have to guard while Kinsey goes in? I'm stronger!" he argued.

"Because she's the one who got us here, and we need stealth not strength." Conan retorted.

"Yeah, and if the bad guy runs out you need to catch him!" I added, trying to aid Conan. Genta gave in. Ai went to the phone booth, while we crossed the street. Ayumi stayed at the front entrance and the rest of us circled around to look in the window. There was a side door that Mitsuhiko went to guard and George ran ahead to get the back door. Conan and I looked in a window to find that the girl was in the living room. She had been tied up and was crying. He popped the screen out and eased the window all the way open. I crawled in first, and tiptoed over to the girl. As soon as she saw us she opened her mouth to say something, but I put my finger to my lips and quickly untied her.

"Wait! He said he'd come back in just a few minutes! He's just in the next room. If he finds you two here we'll all be in trouble!" she whispered, frantically.

"Don't worry. We're getting you out of here no matter what." Conan said. She nodded, and we guided her to the window in which we had entered. Right as we reached it the door opened. Conan and I quickly pushed the girl out the window while the man cried out in rage and ran over to us. A knife was in his hand. I attempted to scramble out the window and pull Conan with me, but then, of course, I fell. I landed on my back with an 'oomf.' It gave the man enough time to grab me by the back of my shirt and pull me up. I dangled in the air, three feet above the ground. I saw Mitsuhiko outside, helping the girl get away.

"Who are you brats?" the man snarled. He had also grabbed Conan, who was playing with his watch. The man noticed this. "What are you doing?" I was thrown half way across the room, and landed in a heap on the ground. _Wow… that hurt_. The wind was knocked out of me. I watched as the knife was brought to Conan's throat. Police sirens sounded in the background. They wouldn't be here in time.

"Hey! You!" I wheezed, "Put him down!" I shakily stood up and ran toward him. He smiled.

"My pleasure." He agreed wickedly, and threw Conan even farther than me. I switched directions toward him.

"Are you ok?!" I asked. Conan coughed.

"Yeah, I'm fine." In a second he was up. I nodded and went to the man again. Instead of running into him I flipped into the air and aimed a kick straight at his face. It worked, but I didn't have enough strength in this small body. He rebounded and caught my foot, dangling me upside down. I kicked and struggled, trying to get away. Suddenly, a soccer ball appeared from behind me and hit the man in the face. He staggered back, and then dropped me. I was concentrating on not falling on my head, so when I looked up he was on the ground unconscious. Conan came over and helped me up.

"Was that you?" I asked. He nodded.

"Are you ok?" he asked. I nodded as well.

"A little bit shaken, but I've had worse. You ok? Where'd you get the soccer ball, and why'd it deflate?" I asked.

"I'm fine, and I'll explain later when you explain how you learned that kick. Right now we'd better get out to the police and explain what happened." he replied. We made our way out to the street where two police cars and the rest of the group were. We told them what happened, leaving out most of the fight. Soon the police were gone along with the man, named James White, and the two siblings. We were left to walk home.

"Yet another mystery solved by the amazing detective boys!" Genta shouted. Ayumi giggled.

"Conan and Kinsey did all the work! They were amazing!" she pointed out.

"I would've done that much too, if I'd gone in!" Genta stubbornly defended. We all laughed and he groaned. We reached the crossroads between the kids' houses and Conan's and Ai's houses. I pretended I also lived at a house that was that way, even though I really didn't live anywhere yet. I had been staying at the hotel room my parents checked into and sending down the money from the stash we'd brought since I'd been changed. It'd been about a week. I'd cleaned out this morning, and was planning to ask Conan for a place to live. It was rash, but I figured once he heard my story I'd stay with him. I never expected to find another person like me.

"So, where are we going? It can't be that detective's place. Is there someone who knows your secret?" I asked.

Ai glanced at me and answered, "We're going to the professor's."


	2. Ai, Ran and things unveiled

**An: Hello! This is my first ever **_**Detective Conan**_** fanfiction! I am no Aoyama Gosho, so please don't be mad if I don't live up to your expectations! I only have experience with Japan as far as the manga I read! This manga gets sad, but it is not a Shinichi-OC fic and I'm pretty sure my character has multiple personality disorder! *Or I do, that might be it* When I write it just flows out, so don't be accusative!**

**Kaitou KID is being introduced, and Hattori will be in it soon! The characters all need to come together for my plan to work! *well, I really don't have a plan, but don't tell anyone! ahaha!**

"He lived next to Conan before he was changed." Ah, so he had confided in someone close to him who could help him figure it out.

"Ok, so we'll all explain what we know there." I hinted. She nodded, not looking at me again. Conan just glanced between us, following the conversation silently. Soon we'd reached a huge house that was obviously the one we were looking for and went inside.

"Ai, Conan?" a voice called, presumably the professor. "Is that you?" Conan looked ahead questionably. Ai led us into a sitting room, but stiffened at the sight. At first I wondered why then I saw the skinny man sitting with the fat man who was obviously the professor. He gave me a sense of danger for some reason. Conan acted like nothing was wrong, but Ai glared at him and I froze.

"Hello professor. We made a new friend today, her name is Kinsey Adler. She just transferred from the U.S.A." Conan said brightly, oblivious to our tension as he was facing the two men. He turned then noticed us standing there. Confusion passed across his features then he looked back at the man. He crossed back over to us and whispered, "You too, Kinsey? Don't worry! He's not dangerous; he lives in my old house. Ai, stop worrying!"

I slowly eased the tension in my body and put a shy smile on my face. Ai pretended to ignore Conan and crossed over to the couch, sitting beside the professor.

"Ah, hello. My name is professor Agasa and this is my neighbor, Okiya" the professor greeted, oblivious to what was going on. I smiled at him as best I could, filing the names into my memory.

"H-hello. It's nice to meet you." I stuttered, following Conan to sit on the other couch. The man was sitting in the only armchair.

"Where are the others?" Agasa asked.

"They had to go home. Their parents were waiting for them." Conan explained. "Kinsey came along because she wanted to meet you."

"That's nice! Did you tell her about my amazing inventions?" Agasa asked, excitedly. Conan grinned.

"No, I told her about your failed inventions." he teased. I giggled, and even Ai smiled. The man chuckled then rose out of his seat.

"I guess I'll go. It looks like you have your hands full." He pointed out. The professor got up with him and led him to the door as Conan waved goodbye. As soon as we heard it close Ai and I sighed together.

"Why don't you two trust him? He reads Sherlock Holmes!" he asked.

"There's a vibe about him that I don't like... and you'd really trust someone just because they read Sherlock Holmes?! That's so stupid!" I answered. Ai nodded.

"Wow, Conan, looks like this girl has more sense than you." she commented.

He glared at her, but changed the subject, "So, Kinsey. What's your real name and how'd you get changed?"

"Oh, how'd you guess I'd been changed? What if I was just a normal kid?" I asked in mock surprise. The professor entered the room.

"So, Shinichi, who is this girl? Is she another teen changed by the drug? That's the only reason I could think of for her coming here alone." he asked. I burst out laughing. "What? What did I say?" He looked from one of us to the other, confused.

"That's just what we were asking." Conan replied.

"Oh, ok..." Agasa said, sitting down to listen as well. I frowned and closed my eyes, turning serious.

"It's a really long story. Kudo, don't interrupt no matter how much you want to. I guess I should start with the fact that I really did come from America and that I really am half Japanese and half American." I started. "My real name is Victoria Smith. I was named after V.I. Warchowski, though I didn't know it until just a few years ago when I started to be interested in mysteries. I am seventeen and graduated from high school last year, when I was sixteen. I had skipped eighth grade. I am the daughter of an American writer, but he doesn't write mysteries. His specialty is pure adventure. I was introduced to mysteries seven years ago when a boy my age visited with his parents. The father was a writer as well, of mysteries, which is how he knew my father I assume, and the mother was an actress. The family fascinated me, and from that day on I read mysteries, trying to solve them. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Edogawa Rampo, Sue Grafton, Anything I could get my hands on.

"I became quite proficient at solving mysteries myself, and from the beginning I could usually figure the mysteries out before they were explained. As soon as I had become interested I knew I would someday become a detective. Everyone would laugh at the thought of a girl detective, but I looked at Sue Grafton's books and knew I could. That fated family never came back, but I never forgot what they had done. I vowed that if I ever had the chance to meet one of them again I would thank them with all my heart." I opened my eyes and looked Conan in the eyes for a second, then closed them and went back to my story. I smirked at the fact that he was shocked.

"After a few years, when I started high school, I started helping the police out with their cases. I was grudgingly let in at first, since I had such an influential family, but once they realized how valuable I was they started to depend upon my skills. Every time a tough case was brought up they called me in to investigate. I made a name for myself. Back home I'm about the equivalent to your Kudo here. Then, about six months ago, the Black organization intruded upon my life. One of the cases I solved put a man of theirs in jail, so they got peeved. It had been an important mission of following the Japanese ambassador, and they needed the papers that were stolen by the man. Instead they fell into the hands of the police. When they tried to steal them from there I stopped them as well. I ended up being followed wherever I went and I feared for my parents. What if they were targeted? I had looked into the organization when I noticed I was being followed. I can do my gymnastics and ballet, but I am notoriously clumsy as you witnessed earlier. Thankfully, it has never messed with one of my cases, but I knew they would take every advantage they could. I was right. On the way home from a case one day I tripped, spilling the contents of my purse everywhere. Two men immediately appeared and picked me up, trying to drag me away. I fought them off and grabbed my stuff, but I knew I needed to run. I had never known my mother's side of the family, the Japanese side, but I decided to convince my family that I should go to Japan. It was where the Black Organization was centered, and I planned to find a way to destroy it before its grasp could reach any further.

"The first thing I did was return home and tell my father what happened. He took my advice, reluctantly, and the very next day I was off to Japan. No one knew where I was going but my parents. My mom was freaking, something scared her about me coming here. Her teaching had prepared me for coming, so I knew she wasn't frightened about that. I really needed to look into my lineage because something about my coming to her hometown scared her to death. After a week I heard news from home. My house had been burned down. My boyfriend is the one who called me afterward. Apparently my mother had told him to come get me, but he refused, knowing how I am on a case. When he looked back after entering his car the house was in flames. That very night I was found and made to swallow the pill. When I woke up the men were gone and I was at the police station. I escaped and ran back to my hotel. Pretending to be my own little sister I bought clothes and stayed until this morning. I changed my name to Kinsey Adler, which is a tribute to the great women minds of detective novels. I had already been named after one, which gave me the idea. When I get a hold of the black organization they will pay." I finished my narrative and opened my eyes. I had to hold back the tears, but I'd become good at it over the years. My face was a perfect blank slate, with the exception that my eyes were watering. I knew I would seem cold and distant, but I really didn't care.

"So, the boy was?" Conan asked. I could tell he knew already but needed confirmation.

"Yes, it was you and your family." I replied. His eyes widened into shock.

"But, that means... never mind. I remember that. What happened to-" I cut him off.

"No. It doesn't matter. You know what the Organization is capable of. Look at us! This would not have happened if it weren't for them!" My voice gradually rose until I was shouting at him. He shrank back to the other side of the couch. Ai got up off the other couch and came to sit next to me.

"I lost my sister. Our parents were members of the Black Organization, and once they died we were made to join, too. I made this drug that forced us to become this, and my sister died trying to get me out. We will get revenge for everything. Don't worry." Anger flared in her eyes and I nodded, seeing her determination. We smiled at each other. Conan got up. His eyes flashed, and I could tell he was holding something back, thinking hard about it.

"Kinsey, you have a place to stay?" he asked. I shook my head, confused.

"I cleared out this morning. Why?" I answered. He nodded before disappearing into the kitchen without answering my question.

"What is he doing?" I asked Ai and the professor, who had sat silent through the whole story. Tears were visible in his eyes, but I ignored them.

"I don't know. He never tells me." Ai replied. I smiled, stiffly. For a few minutes we sat in a comfortable silence. Suddenly, Conan burst back into the room.

"Kinsey, come with me. You're going to live at Ran's with me." He announced. I jumped to my feet, preparing for a rebuttal. Ai beat me to it.

"What?! What if this blows your cover! Why doesn't she stay here?" Ai asked, sharply. I could sense jealousy in her tone as well. Maybe she missed the boyfriend remark?

"She could be valuable to me. Her detective skills seem to be good, and she can fight pretty well. Professor, do you have a spare pair of shoes, a badge, and a watch like mine?" he explained, not looking us in the eyes. I just sat there, observing his obvious cover up, watching this go on.

"Sure, I'll be right back. Do you want a bow tie, too?" The professor got up and headed to a back room.

"Yeah, it might be helpful." Conan called to the retreating figure. Agasa nodded then disappeared.

"Kudo, what's going on? Why are you so adamant that I stay with you? You haven't even explained what happened and who Ai really is!" I asked. He glanced at me, his eyes filled with pain.

"Don't worry about that. Just come on." He replied. Now I knew he was hiding something. What was it? I had the feeling that he'd figured out that my family was dead, but I didn't think it would mean much to them.

I gathered my bag full of clothes, money, and books and got up to stand beside Conan. Ai said her farewells and went down to the basement, looking suspiciously back at us over her shoulder. As soon as the professor had come back I put the watch on and replaced the glasses I was wearing with the hi-tech looking ones. They were red instead of black like Kudo's. The professor must have painted them in a hurry. The shoes I put on, but slipped my old pair in my bag. The bowtie I put in the top of my ponytail as a regular bow because it would look weird if I wore it the normal way. We left to walk to the detective agency where Conan lived. On the way he described what the inventions did.

"Isn't it odd that he had a spare of everything, though?" I asked. Conan smiled sheepishly.

"Actually I break them a lot, I'm not to careful when I chase the culprit." he admitted, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm the same way! I am always breaking my watch when I fall." I laughed. He grinned.

"I guess you really are-" he stopped, his eyes widening minutely.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing." he avoided my eyes.

"Whatever, I'm just as good a detective as you. I'll find out later." I huffed, shrugging. He glared at me then stopped. We had reached the agency.

"Ok, this is the story: You are my cousin from the U.S. Your parents just died and mine had to adopt you. They thought it would be best for you to be with me, even though we only met once, because you really took to me, and asked Ran if you could stay with us. She said yes and can't wait for you to come, as she has always wanted a younger sister. I told her to be gentle, but I don't know how it's going to be. She was really excited." He explained. So he had realized they died. I nodded, somewhat suspicious about how easily he'd created the story, and we proceeded up the stairs. He knocked on the door, and opened it.

"Ran-neechan, we're home!" he announced. His voice had taken on that high, innocent tone.

As soon as we were inside the house, a girl our actual age bounded up to us. She was half excited half depressed, causing me to suppress a laugh.

"Hello! You must be Kinsey, Conan's cousin. My name is Ran. I hope you find it comfortable here!" she said. I smiled at her, and she pulled me up into a hug.

"Hello. Thank you for letting me stay here." I replied quietly, wanting her to put me down. The only one who had picked me up since I was a child was my annoying cousin. I had always been uncomfortable when people touched me.

"Oh, wow you are so cute! So small, too. I don't think you could weigh more than 45 pounds. It's certain that you don't look seven. More like five or six!" she gushed. Then, seeming to remember something, let go. Her voice turned soft, "How are you? I know it is horrible to lose parents. Please feel at home here. If you need to talk about it I'm here, ok?" She was trying to comfort me! Tears came to my eyes, and I had to hold them back.

"Thank you. I am so glad to be here. I really liked Conan and you're really nice." I said, smiling. She squealed and pulled me into another hug. I stiffened. A sob forced its way out of my body, but I held back the rest. She picked me up, and Kudo followed us over to the couch. As soon as we sat down I squirmed out of her grasp, pressing my hands into my eyes to prevent my tears. My cover was breaking.

"Shh, shh, it's alright." Ran whispered. She smiled sadly down at me. I stared blankly back at her. Conan sat beside us looking away. I could see the frown on his face, and knew he was having trouble with his mask as well.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me." I apologized, attempting to move toward him. She just pulled me into another hug.

"It's ok sweetie. You can come to me anytime. I know we just met, but I want to be a big sister to you. There's no need to apologize for being sad, and no need to hide it either." She whispered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Conan watch us, a look of sadness upon his face. Just then a man opened the door.

"Hey, Ran! Is dinner ready? Oh, ah, who's this girl?" He paused when he saw the three of us together on the couch.

"It's Conan's cousin. She lived in America. Her parents recently died, and Conan's parents thought it would be best to send her here." Ran explained.

"O-oh, ok. Why do we have to have another brat around here?" He asked, throwing himself onto the couch across from us. Ran and Conan glared at him while I looked guiltily down.

"Dad! Be considerate! She has just gone through a traumatic experience! If you make it worse so help me I'll stop cleaning and cooking around here!" With that exclamation Ran picked me up and went to the kitchen. It was rather uncomfortable, as I wasn't used to people carrying me, like when she'd held me, but she set me down on the counter. It seemed so high in this body. Conan followed us, his stare boring into me. When I questioned him with my eyes he shook his head and mouthed the words 'don't ask.' I pushed it into the back of my mind for the questioning later.

"So! Do you want to help me cook dinner?" Ran asked, brightly. I nodded eagerly, trying to make her forget my almost outburst, and we started, Conan watching. I had never actually made Japanese food before, so it proved to be a real learning experience.

After dinner Ran set me up in Conan's room, which we would now share. We all sat in the living room and went about our business. Conan and I read mysteries. Mine was the Sherlock Holmes one that introduces Irene Adler. It was one of my favorites, and I had borrowed it from him. Ran cleaned the dishes, which she had flat out refused my help on, and Kogoro sprawled out on one couch watching the horse races. I blocked out everything and put my whole heart into reading the book. It was one of my primary ways of dealing with anything that troubled me.

Apparently it was too much. "You seem to be enjoying that." a voice commented. I jumped and looked around. Ran was standing behind where I had been sitting bent over the book. My fake glasses were sitting on the side table next to me, and I had to put them back on so as to pretend I couldn't see well. I was at the part where Irene greeted him in the street. I guess I exclaimed out loud in excitement. Oops!

"Yeah, it's my favorite part. I love Irene!" I replied childishly, making sure not to say the last name. She nodded.

"You really are Conan's cousin. He likes mysteries as well." She commented. I smiled.

"Yeah, my parents told me a lot about him." I lied, wincing.

"Did they say anything about your distant relative Shinichi?" Ran asked casually. I nodded.

"I met him when I met Conan. I was originally supposed to stay with him, but he had an important case to work on." I replied, smiling. "It was ok, his cases are really cool sometimes, and I got to meet you!" Conan smiled as he listened in.

"I'm glad you came too, now I can take you shopping!" Ran squealed. I looked over at Conan, wondering if she was joking. He just smiled and shook his head at the sight of my face, holding back laughter.

"Um, I don't really shop that much." I said.

"Don't worry, Sonoko will make you a pro in no time!" Ran cheered, completely forgetting her somber mood of a few hours ago. I sighed, and looked back at my book. This was going to be a long stay. Why did I have to be a girl?

Soon after this we all headed to bed. Ran tucked us in, as I held back from rolling my eyes.

"Good night Conan-chan, Kinsey-chan!" she said brightly, waving as she left.

"Night Ran-neechan!" We chanted together. She smiled fondly into the room before closing the door. When her footsteps had died down I sat up and looked over to Kudo.

"So, are you going to explain now?" I asked, quietly. I slid out of the bed and walked over to sit on his, bringing my blanket with me. It was normal for me to be under one, even in the middle of summer. When we'd been sitting out in the office I had been itching to find one.

"Well, it's a long story. You already know who I was, and that I was a detective. One day Ran and I went to Tropical Land..." He proceeded to tell me his story. At the end my fists were clenched and my eyes flashed with anger.

"I hate them." I hissed. He glared out the window.

"I know. They destroy lives and tear families apart. Ai is a prime example of that. I can't even try to understand why they are doing this." He closed his eyes. I reached over to close my hand around his wrist.

"It doesn't matter. We'll defeat them then they will be the ones hating us. Not that they don't already." This caused him to smirk, as I had expected. A breeze attempted to lift my hair. In a flash I had turned to the window and Kudo's eyes snapped open. There, sitting on the window, was none other than Kaitou KID. Conan stood up, his watch held at the ready in front of him. I untangled myself from the blanket quickly, out of practice, and stood up.

"What do you want?" I asked, stepping toward the window. My innocent voice was back on for the moment.

"Oh, I just wanted to greet Tantei-kun and his new 'relative.'" The thief smirked. I noticed he had a poker face, better than mine by far. Conan glared at him.

"How did you know about that?" he asked.

"I have my ways. What's the name of this new girl?" he asked, looking straight at me, though keeping the watch in view.

"My name is Adler Kinsey. Yours?" I replied, casually.

"Kaitou KID, at your service!" He exclaimed. I snorted.

"Not what I meant." I pointed out. He winked.

"I know. Looks like I have two tantei-kuns to watch out for." A bright pink smoke appeared at that instant, and when it had cleared he was gone. I ran to the window.

"Damn it! He got away!" I hit the windowsill with my fist. "Owww!"

"How did he know you were here? He's never visited before. I wonder what he's up to?" Conan murmured.

"I don't know. I've never seen him in person before. Though I've always wondered what his real purpose was..." I replied. My face turned toward the sky, and I stared at the stars. The moon would be full in about a week. Tears fell down my cheeks, leaving a warm trail behind them.

"Are you... okay?" He asked, hesitatingly. I chuckled.

"If you're worried about a repeat of Ai's outburst, don't worry. I control my emotions better than anyone I know, aside from maybe the thief who just visited. I just need to get it out before we face Ran again. If she pulls another 'tell me anything' trick without warning I need to be ready." I explained, my face completely calm.

Conan nodded, turning back to his bed. I stayed at my window until about two in the morning, crying for the first time in a few months. I had felt the familiar pull at my stomach earlier, and knew if I didn't take this time to myself I'd get sick again. Before turning away from the window I wiped away the remaining drops of tears and put a bright smile on my face. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

**An: Poor Kinsey! I really put my characters through a lot... I just realized that. *Oh did you now... what about poor Bella!* Ahaha, well, nevermind, I knew that! Anyway, ignore my rambling and see you next chapter! What will happen when Hattori visits and KID is up to something...**


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